Our Half year results for the 26 weeks ended 28 September 2019
Financial headlines:
- Half year Group revenue up +2.4%; Q2 Group revenue up +3.6%
- H1 Branded revenue up +4.3%; Q2 Branded revenue up +5.6%
- Trading profit ahead in addition to increased marketing investment
- Adjusted profit before tax up +5.0% to £31.7m
- Statutory profit before tax £15.0m; profit after tax £12.3m, both reversing prior year losses
- Net debt £38.8m lower than a year ago on pre-IFRS 16 leases basis at £470.7m
- On track to meet 3.0x Net debt/EBITDA by year end
- Combined pensions surplus £588.7m (30 March 2019: £373.1m)
Strategic & operational headlines:
- Refocused Executive Leadership Team to increase consumer, customer and operational focus
- Sustained quarterly branded growth fuelled by successful innovation strategy
- Consumer marketing investment increased in H1 and set to continue in H2
- Exciting innovation pipeline for H2, including new plant-based brand ‘Plantastic’ now in market
- Increased rate of debt reduction due to strong underlying cash generation
- International business returned to growth – Q2 revenue up +6%
- Strategic review nearing conclusion
Alex Whitehouse, Chief Executive Officer:
“In presenting my first set of results as CEO of Premier Foods I’m encouraged by our strong start to the year with total revenue up +2.4% and branded revenue ahead +4.3%. Our biggest brand, Mr Kipling, has continued its momentum from last year, with sales growth of +8% while sales of our Nissin branded ranges have more than doubled. We have launched a number of new product ranges including our new plant-based brand Plantastic and our International business returned to growth in Q2. Due to our strong cash generation, our Net debt has reduced by £38.8m compared to the same point last year.”
“I am also announcing a new Executive Leadership team structure which provides us with sharper consumer, customer and operational focus. Our operational strategy is unchanged, but we now have increased energy and impetus. We are targeting some largely operational cost savings over the next two years and we are on track to meet our Net debt/EBITDA target of 3.0x by the end of this financial year. With a better H1 than planned, we are confident in our expectations for progress in the full year. As we look a little further ahead, and in light of our disciplined and consistent track record of Net debt reduction, we start to see options for our future deployment of cash.”